


And Justice for All

by Sinna



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Gen, Post-Strike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 08:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4297497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinna/pseuds/Sinna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>David Jacobs and the trial of the century</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Justice for All

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a scene from Albert Camus’ The Stranger. I have been working on this for a solid three months and it still doesn’t feel 100% finished but this is as good as it’s getting for now.

“David, can you get out of school for a few days?” Denton asked suddenly.

David, sitting at Denton’s dining room table, looked up from the essay he was revising, his thoughts abruptly jolted away from the world of verbs and semicolons.

“I’ve missed so much school already, I’m not sure I can really afford to miss any more. The rest of my class is far enough ahead of me as it is.”

“I can talk to your teachers,” Denton offered. “I think they’d agree that I’m offering you a unique and valuable learning experience.”

“What are you offering?” David asked.

“You’ve heard of the Wright Murder?”

David nodded carefully.

“It’s splashed on the front page of every paper in New York. Jack hasn’t been this excited about a headline in months.”

“The Sun assigned me to cover the trial. I talked to my boss, and I’ve arranged for you to come with me as my assistant for this story, if you’d like. You are still interested in a career in journalism, aren’t you?”

“I’d like to, but…” David trailed off, unable to articulate exactly what why he felt so uncomfortable with the idea.

“I’ll talk to your parents,” Denton promised. “I can’t imagine they’ll have any objections.”

And David knew that was that.

-

“You’ll have to tell me all the juicy details,” Jack insisted, when David told him about Denton’s offer later that evening.

The two were standing out on the Jacobs’ fire escape, staring up at the tiny slice of sky above them and trying to pretend that they weren’t also staring at each other.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to tell you anything that won’t be in the papes. At least not anything interesting.”

“That doesn’t matter. Customers like it when you sound like you know more than the papes. Hey, maybe you can sell with me for a few days! You tell ‘em the details from your firsthand account, and I’ll sell ‘em the full story.”

David couldn’t help laughing, a little bit of his apprehension melting away.

-

The last time David had been in court, he’d found out his best friend had been lying to him since the moment they’d met. The tiny local court had nothing on the majesty of New York’s largest courthouse, but David couldn’t help the apprehension that settled in his stomach, as if Jack might be the one dragged into the courtroom and accused of murder. Denton was murmuring a thousand last minute instructions and bits of useless information in his ear, but David barely heard it.

“David. David.”

He finally recognized his own name.

“Is everything okay?” Denton asked.

“Fine,” David assured him. “I’m just tired.”

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Denton said. “This is a big story.”

“I’m not nervous,” David insisted.

And it was true, in a way. He wasn’t nervous in the way Denton was thinking, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach was something similar.

“You’ll be fine,” Denton assured him, in the confident tone of an adult who assumes that they’ve solved everything with a few simple words.

“I’m sure I will be,” David replied evenly.

Denton smiled, and made a few notes in his notepad.

“What are you writing?” David asked. “It hasn’t started yet.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, David,” Denton explained. “Before everything begins, you need to assess where the action will take place. There are a multitude of wealthy and important people that will want to be at least mentioned in the article.”

“Why do they matter?” David asked. “It’s not like they’re the ones on trial.”

“You’re going to learn that things like this are very seldom about what you think they’re about.”

That didn’t seem to make any sort of sense to David, but he filed the information away within his head. He was here to learn things, and this was as good a start to his education as anything.

–

“You did very well today, David,” Denton praised him as they left the court room after the first day.

“I didn’t really do anything,” David replied.

“You paid attention and offered your thoughts on the trial. It was extremely helpful,” Denton assured him.

Privately, David suspected Denton was only offering empty praise, but he simply smiled and accepted it.

“Dave!”

He was nearly bowled over as Jack pounced on him like an overexcited puppy.

“How’d the trial go, Dave?” Jack asked. “You promised to tell me everything, remember?”

“It was actually kind of boring,” David told him. “Were you waiting for me?”

Jack laughed.

“You hear that, Denton? You take this kid to the trial of the century and he thinks it’s kind of boring.”

“It’s only just getting started,” Denton said. “There’s plenty of time for things to get interesting. Now, if you boys will excuse me, I have a deadline to meet.”

“So, how was it really?” Jack asked, as soon as Denton was out of earshot.

“I told you. It was boring. Everyone just stood around and talked about all these lofty ideals, and everything they were going to prove.”

Jack hopped up to sit on the low wall outside the courthouse.

“Well, what did you expect?”

David groaned and closed his eyes, leaning on the wall next to Jack.

“I don’t know. Not that.”

Jack ruffled his hair. David opened his eyes and looked up at him.

“What are you looking at?” Jack asked.

David shrugged.

“You.”

–

“Please state your name for the court.”

The man on the witness stand puffed up his chest.

“Hector Smith.”

“And you are the landlord of the accused?”

“That’s right.”

“How long have you been the landlord to the Wrights?”

“Well, let’s see. They moved in… last winter, I believe. Right after my Jan had the baby.”

“And how would you describe your relationship to Mr. and Mrs. Wright?”

“Well, they paid their rent on time, didn’t they? I wasn’t going to intrude in their business.”

“Your wife was friends with Mrs. Wright, correct?”

The man’s confidence wavered.

“They talked. What of it? Women like to talk.”

“Did your wife ever tell you anything of her conversations with Mrs. Wright?”

“Hardly!” he scoffed.

“What is this accomplishing?” David asked quietly.

Denton’s pen paused for a moment.

“They’re trying to determine a motive. If you have a motive, it’s easier to convict.”

“This man clearly doesn’t know anything.”

“Oh? Are you sure of that?”

“If he knows anything, he doesn’t want to say it,” David amended.

“That’s what a good lawyer is for. Making people say what they don’t want to say.”

“Race would make a good lawyer.”

“Perhaps he would,” Denton conceded. “But perhaps you should consider that train of thought at a later time.”

David took the hint and turned his attention back to his notes.

–

“How’s the trial going?” Jack asked, as the two of them walked the darkening streets of New York.

“There’s a lot of evidence against her,” David said.

“Well of course there is. They’re gonna convict her. Everyone knows it.”

“The trial’s not over yet.”

Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

“Davey, Davey, Davey. Sometimes I am in awe of your ignorance. The papes have already decided she’s guilty. That means she’s guilty.”

“Like when the papes decided the rally never happened?”

Jack’s face tightened.

“Yeah, Davey. Like that. The jury reads the morning pape same as anyone else. What are you going to do this time? Publish your own pape about how Mrs. Wright might be innocent?”

“It’s not fair. I thought the justice system was supposed to be fair.”

Jack’s arm dropped abruptly from David’s shoulder.

“You really haven’t been paying attention.”

They walked the rest of the way back to the Jacobs’ residence in silence. Jack didn’t stay for dinner.

–

“Do you think she has a chance?” David asked.

The proceedings hadn’t started for the day, and Denton’s notes consisted only of the weather, and a society lady who had made a particularly noteworthy entrance.

“There’s always a chance,” Denton said, clearly not paying much attention. “Maybe even a good chance. The defense often saves their best evidence for later in the trial. Turning things around at the last minute makes it harder for the prosecution to fight back.”

“But what if the defense doesn’t have any new evidence? Do you think there’s still a chance that they’ll find her innocent?”

“There’s always a chance, David.”

As usual, what Denton didn’t say told David a lot more than what he did.

–

Jack wasn’t waiting outside the courthouse. It hurt, but it wasn’t much of a surprise.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Denton offered.

David shook his head.

“I’ll be fine on my own.”

Denton didn’t look convinced, but after a moment he turned and began walking home. David looked toward his own home, in the opposite direction, and then started towards the lodging house.

He shouldn’t have been surprised to find the place deserted. For some reason, even after passing several kids hawking the evening edition, he’d expected Jack to be there waiting for him. Well, this was a waste of a trip. For a moment, he considered waiting, but he knew it could be hours before Jack would be back, and his parents were expecting him for dinner. With a last look around the strangely quiet room, he started home, deliberately ignoring the look of sympathy Mr. Kloppman sent his way.

–

“And did you have sexual relations with the accused?”

The court held its breath, all eyes fixed on the man on the witness stand.

His quiet “Yes” echoed through the space, quickly followed by an uproar from the spectators.

“So I guess that’s it then?” David said softly.

“It certainly looks like it,” Denton agreed. “They have a motive. There’s not much else the defense can do. Don’t give up on a trial before it’s over though. I’ve seen these things turn around faster than you could imagine.”

David fixed his eyes on the woman accused of murder, her back ramrod straight and her face carefully blank.

–

“There’s someone waiting for you out on the fire escape,” Sarah whispered as she leaned over his desk, retrieving the spool of thread that she had perhaps not so accidentally knocked off the shelf.

After she’d returned to her seat in the corner, Davey stood up, announcing that he needed some fresh air. The raised eyebrow Sarah sent his way told him that she was not impressed with his attempt at subterfuge, but Les remained focused on his pile of marbles, so it couldn’t have been too terrible. He slipped out the window, unsure who could possibly be lurking in wait for him.

“Hey, Davey.” 

He made out a familiar figure in the darkness.

“Jack? What’s with all the secrecy?”

“I can’t stay long,” Jack explained. “I didn’t want your family inviting me to eat or nothin’.”

“It’s a bit past suppertime,” David pointed out.

“I heard you came by the lodging house,” Jack continued, as if he hadn’t heard.

“I wanted to-” The words stuck in his throat, but David forced himself to continue. “I wanted to apologize.”

“You figure out where you went wrong?” Jack asked, arms crossed over his chest defensively.

David studied the rusted railing under his fingers.

“I know you’re mad at me,” he said finally. “And I can understand why. The system has never been fair to you. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything differently from this case, just because people make a bigger show of justice. You think I’m being naïve. Foolish.”

He substituted the second word quickly. He knew Jack didn’t exactly blame him for growing up in different circumstances, but considering that was the source of the current problem, making that more apparent wouldn’t help anything.

“I ain’t mad at you,” Jack said. “It’s just… you couldn’t understand it.”

David took a careful step towards him.

“I could try.”

“You don’t know what it’s like, growing up on the streets. The first thing you learn is that there’s no such thing as justice. There’s just money. My father… well… he was a no good piece of shit, but that don’t mean he was a murderer. Didn’t stop them from locking him up for life. It didn’t matter to nobody that stealing was the only way I could eat. They sent me to the Refuge all the same. That’s when I learned how much people in this damn city like pretending that there’s no problems. People told me, day in and day out, that the justice system didn’t make mistakes. That the Refuge was for rehabilitating criminals like me. But I ain’t blind. I could see that most of the kids in there didn’t deserve to be there, and none of them came out any better for it. There were two types of kids who came out of the Refuge – the ones who came out broken, and the ones who came out hardened criminals.”

“Which were you?” David asked quietly.

Jack clenched his fists.

“I’m not sure I want to know.”

David thought he knew the answer, but he also knew Jack wouldn’t want to hear it.

“I’ve heard people tell me all my life that the system is fair. Liberty and justice for all and all that. And it’s usually coming from rich folks who don’t know what they’re talking about, so it don’t matter. It’s a little harder to brush off when it’s coming from someone I- from my best friend.”

–

“She’s barely said anything at all,” David noticed. “Her lawyer keeps discussing her side of the story, but we’ve never heard it. She’s the one accused of murder, and she hasn’t said a word in her own defense.”

“She’s fighting for her life here. It would be hard to believe anything she says. The defense won’t ask her to speak unless they feel that it would help her case.”

“But shouldn’t we at least hear what she has to say?”

Denton shrugged.

“Her lawyers know what they’re doing.”

“I hope you’re right.”

–

David couldn’t help a smile when Jack waylaid him as he was walking home, a small stack of still-unsold papers tucked under one arm.

“How’s the trial going?” Jack asked.

David shrugged.

“Can we talk about something besides the trial?”

“I thought you were going to tell me every detail,” Jack pointed out, wrapping his free arm around David’s shoulders.

For once, Jack’s touch wasn’t a comfort, and David almost wanted to push him away.

“Well, since that’s all anyone ever seems to care about anymore,” he snapped.

Jack’s face fell.

“Davey, is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” David insisted. “Why wouldn’t I be? I spend all day at the courthouse, and then once I finally get out of there everyone has to keep bringing it up.”

Jack stopped walking.

“You’re not fine. Talk to me, Dave. What’s the problem? You get front row seats to the trial of the century. Most people I know are desperately wishing they could get even a glimpse of events. Tumbler wouldn’t shut up for weeks after the time he saw a man get arrested in Central Park. Why are you treating it like it’s some sort of chore?”

David sighed.

“For exactly that reason,” he explained, half embarrassed to admit it and half grateful to finally tell someone else. “Everyone keeps acting it like it’s a show. Like I’m going to Broadway to catch a musical. Even the people there act like they’re at the opera or something. Someone’s life depends on the outcome of this trial and no one seems to care.”

–

There was an almost jubilant atmosphere in the courthouse as they waited to hear the jury’s decision. Members of New York’s elite were quick to fall into discussion of whatever grand events they would be attending, and pass around tidbits of gossip. From the couple sitting behind him, David learned that Pulitzer’s daughter had apparently made a scandal of herself at the most recent gala.

Beside him, Denton was in the midst of a serious discussion with another reporter about the evening headlines. It took David a moment to realize that they were already assuming a guilty verdict.

Suddenly, the courtroom seemed terribly small and cramped, and the buzz of conversation unbearable. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

The jury must have returned with their verdict sometime when he wasn’t paying attention, because the judge was calling for silence in the court.

Afterwards, David would never be able to recall the exact words said there. But the exact words didn’t really matter. What mattered was the verdict (guilty) and the sentence (death).

He looked to Denton first, but the older man had already returned to his conversation. As if there had been no interruption. After a moment, he looked across the room at the accused woman still standing there. She was still carefully blank, but David thought he could see signs of the fear behind her eyes as they carefully met his gaze. He couldn’t force himself to look for more than a moment.

He wondered if that made him a coward.

–

“Psst, hey, Dave!”

He looked up at the sound of Jack’s voice, but made no other movement.

“I thought I might find you up here,” Jack continued. “What’s a guy like you doing sulking up on a rooftop? Thought that was supposed to be my job.”

“I’m not sulking,” David insisted, even knowing that it was a lie.

“Sarah says you’ve been up here on the roof ever since you got home from the trial. Is everything okay?”

David shrugged.

“I’m sure you’ve seen the headline by now.”

Jack grinned for a moment, then caught himself. He sat down next to David, close enough that their arms almost touched.

“I told you they were going to find her guilty.”

David stared at his hands, absorbed in the ridges and lines of his fingertips.

“I didn’t have any illusions,” he admitted finally. “I knew that they would. And maybe she even deserved it.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

David shook his head. After a moment, he turned to look at Jack, studying him as if he might never get another chance. Brown hair, brown eyes, a puzzled tilt to his head. Even all these months later, the red bandana still tied jauntily around his neck.

“Davey, you’re scaring me.”

“The whole trial,” he finally found the voice to explain. “It felt so wrong. It was cold and meaningless and inhuman. No one cared.”

Jack laughed bitterly.

“Welcome to New York.”

David looked up at him.

“I’m being stupid, aren’t I?”

Jack shrugged and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“Maybe a little. But maybe that’s okay. Maybe the world needs more people who don’t just accept all the bad things the way they are. After all, if everyone accepts it, who’s gonna change it?”

“Large-scale legal reform is a bit bigger than anything I’ve ever done before. I can’t just start a strike this time.”

Jack laughed.

“I’d like to see that. David Jacobs leading New York’s criminals in a strike against lawyers.”

David shoved him lightly, a small smile making its way to his lips.

“Seriously, what am I supposed to do?”

Jack leaned towards him.

“I told you, didn’t I? The jury reads the papes. You’re going to be a journalist, right? Start there.”


End file.
